This month my team is working with Adventures in Missions in one of the poorest and most remote villages in Swaziland. AIM has care points all over this country, but the majority are in Manzini and here where we are; Nsoko. Since we’ve been here we’ve gotten to meet the most precious couple that have a heart for the young adults of Swaziland and are passionate about investing in their lives. Celimpilo and Tamara Vilane and their precious daughter Eliana are tackling a new AIM project by starting an organization called Ambassadors of Hope to be opened in May of this year. They came and shared their vision with our team and I got to interview them to get a better idea behind their vision for this country and this ministry. Here’s what you need to know.
Celimpilo is native Swazi; and not just from Swazi but from this village. His beautiful wife Tamara is from South Africa and they met when Pilo was serving with AIM in Tamara’s hometown. He grew up in a broken family and was very poor; no-clue-if-they-would-eat-that-day kind of poor. He saw first-hand the devastation that HIV and AIDS were causing in his community and how those young people were spending their efforts on things that did not improve their lives. From there a fire started in his heart to honor God with his body and help give the promising young men and women of these communities an opportunity to make a difference. From that fire Ambassadors of Hope was born. It’s been a long journey from that inspiration to shaping the vision that opens in two months, but God has been faithful and has placed His vision in their hearts and is continuing to provide and confirm that this is the path He has placed this family on.
Ambassadors of Hope is a ministry that gives the youth of Swaziland an opportunity to chase their dreams and make a difference for the Kingdom. With 40% unemployment in this country, young people can have all the dreams they want, but if they have no opportunity to chase or implement them they have no hope and no future. AOH takes youth with a heart to impact their communities and pours into them emotionally, spiritually, and physically by taking them on a six-month journey of transformation. They live in a community of believers and take classes on apologetics, spiritual formation, and character development while living, serving, and worshiping in community. Once their classes are done they go on outreaches, both volunteering in the local communities and on international trips, applying what they learned. The final stage of the program is where the rubber meets the road. The interns get to apprentice with churches, businesses, and other partners the Vilane’s have in the community. Once they graduate, interns are anchored in who and Whose they are, they have practiced and shared what they’ve learned by going on mission trips and outreaches, and are now equipped with a skill to empower them on the road to their own calling. This is exactly what this country needs.
I did a gap year program like this called Impact 360. It was a year-long discipleship training program that operated on a very similar model and from first-hand experience, it changed my life. While there I realized my purpose, fell in love with Latin America, and learned so much from getting to live in a Christian community. For that opportunity to be here in the poorest region of Swaziland and for the youth that participate to leave this empowered is unbelievable. I’ve loved my time getting to know the Vilane’s and I’m stoked about what God is leading them to and the way God is going to use this place to radically impact the teenagers – and therefore future – of this nation.
What the Vilane’s and Ambassadors of Hope need are prayer and funding. They are 40% funded for a program that begins in May; with 8 students already committed to come. They really feel led to take the step of faith into the Jordan River trusting God will part the waters on their obedience. If this stirs your heart, you can give at www.adventuresinmissions.org/give and enter “Ambassadors of Hope” in the box. For prayer: that God will grow this ministry in His timing, provide the material and physical needs of the ministry like food and furniture, and that He will prepare the hearts of the students for the transformation He will bring to their lives. For the Vilane’s personally: that God will keep pouring into their lives for them to pour into the interns, for their marriage and family, and for the smooth delivery of their new baby girl due in June. I can’t wait to see what The Father does because of their heart for this place. It’s been a delight to spend time with this couple and I’m so excited for the Kingdom that is to come through them and this ministry. Thanks for reading, your prayers, and support of this precious family and their heart for this country.
